A parking system for parking facilities, such as car parks, multi-story car parks and similar installations, generally has one or more access arrangement(s). An access arrangement generally comprises one or more access device(s). By way of example, an access arrangement can be provided by a barrier with a swivel-mounted barrier arm. With such an access device, in particular the passage of a vehicle from a first area to a further area can be monitored or controlled. Thus, at a parking facility an access arrangement with at least one access device can be provided, in order to control the passage from an unmonitored area, by way of example a street, to a monitored area, by way of example the parking area. In other words, the entry into the parking facility can be controlled by an access device. Alternatively, or additionally, a parking facility can be provided with an access arrangement with at least one exit device, in order to control the passage of a vehicle from the monitored area to the unmonitored area. In other words, the exit from the parking facility can be controlled by an access device.
With known access devices, the entry into a parking facility is allowed following the generation of a short-term parking ticket as a result of a user action. At the end of a parking time, the short-term parking ticket, in particular a paper ticket, is then paid for by a user at an automated machine and upon exiting checked by a validation device of the exit device. If the outcome of the check is positive, passage is enabled. However, if the validation device finds that the ticket, by way of example, has not yet been paid for or that the payment was made too long ago, then the exit device remains closed.
A constant concern with parking systems is to improve user comfort. In particular, manual user actions are not considered user-friendly. To this end, in the prior art, parking systems are known in which the necessary user actions are able to be minimised.
An exemplary parking system 700 according to the prior art is shown in FIG. 7. The parking system 700 comprises an access arrangement 702 with two access devices 704.1, 704.2. Each access device 704.1, 704.2 is associated with a broadcasting device 710.1, 710.2, which in each case emits a radio field carrying an access data record. With the access arrangement 702 or the access devices 704.1, 704.2 generally the passage from a first area 706 to a further area 708 can be monitored.
When the parking system 700 is operational, greater user comfort is enabled in that the user no longer has to use a short-term parking ticket in the conventional manner for passage. Instead of the short-term parking ticket a mobile terminal 732 associated with the user can be employed, on which an access application can be installed. If the mobile terminal 732 receives a radio field 712.1, 712.2 with an access data record carried hereby, it processes the received access data record with the help of the access application and sends an access message to a control device 724 via a wireless communication network 736. The control device 724 can then, based on the received access data record, determine which broadcasting device is sending this access data record and derive from this data the access device associated with the broadcasting device. This access device can then be actuated in order to enable the passage. In other words, it should be ensured that the correct entrance to the multi-story parking facility is enabled, namely that in front of which the vehicle 718 is standing.
However, a problem here is that a radio field 712.2 from a second access device 704.2 can also be received by a mobile terminal 732, which is actually positioned in front of the first access device 704.1. In this case, the mobile terminal 732 receives both access data records or only the “wrong” additional data record. While in the last case the wrong access device is controlled and actuated, in the first case it is not possible to unequivocally determine the access device to be controlled and actuated, respectively.
It is known from the prior art to use broadcasting devices with directional antennas, in order to influence the radio field strength and thus improve the formation or dimensioning of radio fields. But in practice, here also, by way of example, due to unavoidable inaccuracies in the adjustment, and reflections and interferences, errors occur. It must also be guaranteed that a radio field can be received by a mobile terminal irrespective of where it is in a vehicle. A reliable operation of such a parking system is therefore problematical.